The opportunity to grow and socialize in a supportive environment, a process taken for granted by heterosexual adolescents, continues to elude the gay and lesbian adolescent population, especially within the educational community. A goal of education should be to provide support for gay and lesbian teenagers before self-defeating behavior patterns become entrenched. Through youth support groups, curricula integrated with gay and lesbian issues, and varied activities designed to confront homophobia, counselors and educators can begin to move toward meaningful services for this population. Certainly this will not happen as long as adults and society continue to instill anger, fear, dislike, and hatred of gay men and lesbians into the minds of children. Counselors and educators have a responsibility to move past negative stereotypes and personal homophobia to provide gay and lesbian students a deserved alternative to the rhetoric of prejudice and false beliefs attached to the homosexual lifestyle. This can happen if professional counselors and educators take advantage of opportunities which allow for exploration of their own homophobia and individual biases in regard to differences, while developing the skills necessary to sensitively meet the needs of minority and stigmatized populations. In questioning individual attitudes, beliefs, and values, one fulfills a responsibility to open youth to the world with truth, integrity, and respect for all differences. (ABL)